GOP Cancels Convention Opening Night
ST. PAUL, Minn. — John McCain tore up the script for his Republican National Convention on Sunday, casting himself as above politics as Hurricane Gustav churned toward New Orleans. "We will act as Americans," not partisans, he declared.
President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney scrapped plans to address the convention Monday night, and McCain's aides chartered a jet to fly delegates back to their hurricane-threatened states along the Gulf Coast. Campaign manager Rick Davis said the first-night program was being cut from seven hours to two-and-a-half.
Officials said that as part of the convention's opening night, Laura Bush and McCain's wife, Cindy, would speak from the podium and describe ways to help victims of the storm bearing down on a region that was devastated three years ago by Hurricane Katrina. The first lady visited the convention hall Sunday evening to check out the podium.
"This is a time when we have to do away with our party politics, and we have to act as Americans," McCain said as fellow Republicans converged on their convention city to nominate him for the White House. Aides said Monday's program would be shorn of political rhetoric.
On the eve of his convention, McCain also seemed determined to avoid the errors made by Bush three years ago. "I have every expectation that we will not see the mistakes of Katrina repeated," he said.
McCain said in an interview with NBC that it was possible he would make his acceptance speech not from the convention podium but via satellite from the Gulf Coast region.
The formal business of the convention includes nominating McCain for president and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate on Wednesday. McCain's acceptance speech, set for prime time Thursday evening, is among the most critical events of the campaign for his chances of winning the White House.
The hasty reordering of an event months in the planning was unprecedented, affecting not only the program on the podium but the accompanying fundraising, partying and other political activity that unfolds around the edges of a national political convention.
McCain said he was looking forward to being at the convention but did not say when he would arrive. He spoke from St. Louis after he and Palin received a briefing on hurricane preparations on a quick visit to Jackson, Miss. Palin and Cindy McCain later flew together to St. Paul, accompanied by vice presidential also-rans Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney.
Democratic rival Barack Obama got a briefing, too, by telephone from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. Obama heard about the status of the storm, the evacuation effort and coordination between federal, state and local authorities, according to Democratic campaign adviser Robert Gibbs.
McCain campaign manager Davis told reporters inside the convention hall that the opening program on Monday would be "business only and will refrain from political rhetoric."
To help those in need, he said, "We are working with the delegations, financial people, finance committees, many other concerned individuals to do what we can to raise money for various charities that operate in the Gulf Coast region."
McCain said of his briefing in Mississippi: "I'm happy to report to you that the coordination and the work that's being done at all levels appears to be excellent." He cited remaining challenges in communications and search and rescue operations, but emphasized that the response seemed to be going more smoothly than the one three years ago.
Later, at a rally with McCain outside St. Louis, Palin said, "There are consequences when government fails to make good on its most basic obligations, and this is true not just in times of crisis."
"Every day the decisions of government can make lives better for our people or worse, add to their burdens or lighten them and strengthen the security of our nation or diminish that security," she said.
The uncertainty along the Gulf Coast contrasted with a state of readiness inside the Xcel Center, a hockey arena transformed into a made-for-televison red-carpeted convention hall. Thousands of red, white and blue balloons nestled in netting high above the floor _ to be released during final-night festivities if the Republicans decide to go ahead with them.
Outside, police took nine people into custody for crossing a security barrier in an anti-war march. The nine, including two women in their 70s, were charged with trespassing, according to Doug Holtz, a St. Paul police commander.
Emphasizing their concern about the hurricane, McCain and his newly named running mate traveled to Mississippi for a tour of the state's emergency management center.
"I pledge that tomorrow night, and if necessary throughout our convention, we will act as Americans, not as Republicans," McCain told reporters moments later.
The events temporarily overshadowed a more traditionally political pre-convention debate over McCain's decision to name Palin to his ticket. She was mayor of small-town Wasilla, Alaska, for six years before she became governor in December 2006.
Responding to a question after his hurricane-related remarks, McCain made a ringing defense of Palin, who Democrats argue has less experience than their presidential candidate, Obama.
"I think Sen. Obama, if they want to go down that route, in all candor, she has far, far more experience than Sen. Obama does," McCain said.
He cited Palin's stint as governor of a "state that produces 20 percent of America's energy" as well as her previous membership in the PTA and her time spent on the city council and in the mayor's office in Wasilla, a town of fewer than 7,000 people outside Anchorage.
By contrast, he said Obama "was a community organizer when she was in elected office. He was in the state Senate and voted 130 times present. He never took on his party on anything. She took on a party and the old bulls and the old boy network and she succeeded."
Palin has frequently clashed with fellow Republicans in her state, and won office after denying an incumbent GOP governor renomination to a new term in office.
But Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut said McCain's selection was merely designed to appease the hard-right conservatives in the Republican Party. "His knees buckled" when it came time to picking a running mate, Dodd said of McCain in an appearance on CNN.
Democrats, too, decided to tone down their convention-week efforts.
Party spokesman Brad Woodhouse said the Democrats had canceled a "More of the Same" rally that had been slated for Monday.
Obama said he was ready to encourage his supporters to assist any victims of the hurricane.
"I think we can activate an e-mail list of a couple of million people who want to give back," he said.
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Associated Press writers Liz Sidoti and Sara Kugler in St. Paul, Charles Babington in Lima, Ohio, and Beth Fouhy in Jackson, Miss., contributed to this report.
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DAVID ESPO | August 31, 2008 11:37 PM EST |
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